In Her Element - Kathy and the '57 Chevy

I get asked quite often how I generate the images I post. I've explained the process in detail before but for those of you who are new here, I not only unapologetically extensively post-process my images but also during image capture I typically use a tripod to steady my camera while taking between 9 to 11 exposures to capture the range of light I want to work with. This is especially important when the ambient lighting is low and long exposure times are expected. As you can imagine it would be impossible for me to hold my camera perfectly still for the full duration of a 30 second exposure. 

In this image I have not only captured the red 1957 Chevy truck, I have also managed to capture Kathy in her preferred element: Cool overcast morning, a classic car (or truck) in front of her, camera mounted on her tripod at the ready, and her camera bag. She is pictured wearing her hat with "Close your fucking hood" pinstriped across the brim. She knows what she likes and while she tends to be quiet and reserved, she isn't shy about expressing her opinions with a searing delivery. 

I wandered over to this truck just as the owner was parking it and immediately asked him if he would leave the lights on so I could take a few photos. He gladly obliged, initially leaving the parking lights on and afterward turining on the headlights. Seeing this, Kathy wandered over and also took a few shots. I backed my tripod up a bit so I wouldn't appear the images she was taking because I know from long experience she doesn't like that and will likely ask me to "move my fat ass out of the shot" or fire some other endearing comment my way. After 17 years we understand each other. I often do the "meet and greet" with the car owners while she makes the best images and writes the more compelling stories. I enjoyed conversing with the owner about the truck and was glad he braved the rain which fell intermittently. Kathy gave him a business card so he could see the photos we took of this beauty that early morning under stormy skies. 

'48 Pomona Blues

Toward the end of our time at the Pomona Auto Swapmeet this past March, I walked along the drag strip grandstands and came across this two tone, blue 1948 Chevy Fleetline sitting in the area generally reserved for cars for sale. I don't typically peruse the cars in this section since they usually have their hoods raised and for sale signs plastered on the windshield but while this car wasn't for sale the paint was amazingly reflective and the chrome was spotless and perfect looking even with the intermittent rain showers and threatening skies overhead. After taking four or 5 sets of images I took another photo with my phone and sent it to Kathy letting her know about it and where it was so she wouldn't miss it. Not sure if she ever has seen this particular car before but I'm sure glad I got to add it to my digital collection. 

 

Black Fleetline Under Stormy Skies

Kathy and I decided to go to the Pomona Auto Swapmeet at the Fairplex in Pomona, California once we learned that it wasn't supposed to rain until later that morning. Kathy's older brother and his wife happened to be in town, so we asked if they wanted to join us and they agreed. We picked them up around 4:00am and headed for Pomona. The drive to the event was uneventful with the exception of encountering a police car weaving back and forth across the freeway lanes ahead of us for a short time. Once we arrived, we saw that the line of cars waiting to enter was fairly short. I think many exhibitors and visitors decided not to show up due to the impending storm. When we arrived at the show area there were only a handful of cars for us to photograph but more arrived as time went by. One of those cars that arrived was this 1947 Chevy Fleetline who's owner was kind enough to leave the lights on for me while I took my shots. It began sprinkling as I took these photos and it wasn't until I moved to the rear of the car that I realized that the sky had become quite dark. We continued shooting lots of cars until it became obvious that we should go get some breakfast.

Low Slung Fun

At the same Montebello car show, we also saw this stunning beauty. Can anyone identify a modern car that is this stylish and beautiful? Sure the owner has modified this car extensively but if a single person can realize this vision why can't the big car companies? Probably because most people these days are only interested in boring, boxy SUV's. The world is a less interesting place because of this.

A Face Full of Grill

Kathy and I decided on a whim to attend a car show in Montebello being held at a park. There were lots of cars in the adjacent parking lot and several more lined up curbside across the street. This is where we found this black 1938 Buick. I was immediately drawn to it due to its beautiful paint job and extensive amount of chrome gleaming in the sun. It was a hot day and Kathy was already feeling the effects of it. Not long after we photographed the cars adjacent to this one, we called it a day and walked across the street, bought a couple of water bottles and headed back to my car for the ride home in the cold air conditioning it can produce. 

Gumby

I saw this clean, slammed, two toned chevy truck at the 2023 Riverside show & go car show tucked away on a side street. We had walked around all morning taking loads of photos and we were nearly ready to return to the hotel to check out and head home. Glad I got few shots of this beforehand.

Earn Your Wings

Just a few posts ago, I was talking about style when it comes to cars. I really do feel that today's cars are sorely lacking in style probably because every design today is the result of a focus group and not the realization of a group of visionaries. I may be wrong but check out this 1959 impala! If this is considered bad design, well sign me up! I'm ready to earn my wings. 

Splendor in the Grass

We often hear it's not a good idea to park your car on the grass while the engine is hot. Your catalytic converter could start a fire. I think this slammed 1930's car is safe as it predates catalytic converters by at least 40 years. The incredibly stylish body and mirror like finish on this car is what stopped me in my tracks at the San Diego, Chicano Park car show on this day in 2023. I just love the exuberant styling common to cars of the late 1930’s. Maybe after the trials of the great depression, exuberance was needed. Things would not be the same after World War II concluded. To poorly quote William Wordsworth:

Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower.
We will grieve not; rather find strength in what remains behind.

Taking a New Lens for a Swirl

The Petzval lens design has been around since the 1840's and is best known for creating a crisp center area of focus while rendering the surrounding area with an out-of-focus swirly bokeh. Almost like the bokeh has decided to do a little pirouette. While the pursuit of perfect optics in modern lens design would seemingly have made this type of lens obsolete, I find it quite compelling even with it’s tendency to generate chromatic aberration and heavy vignetting. For this reason, when Lensbaby decided to release their own take on the Petzval lens, the Twist 60, I bought it the first time they offered it at a significant discount. While I'm still learning to this manual focus lens, if I continue to get good results, I’ll be posting more from this little lightweight optical wonder soon!

Any Day is a Good Day to Photograph a 1957 Chevy Hood

I can't help it. Any time I see a 1957 Chevy Hardtop, Belair, or Nomad I have to photograph the hood rockets with a large aperture lens to blur out the background. I don't know why, I guess I just think they look cool. In the past I have typically taken these shots with my well used 100mm macro but I recently purchased a 40-year-old 70-200mm f2.8 minolta zoom lens that among its other excellent optical qualities, can render beautiful out-of-focus bokeh. I needed a longer large aperture lens to enable me to fill the frame when shooting hood ornaments and while it works well for this purpose, focus accuracy becomes critical as the depth of field is exceedingly narrow, typically 1/8 of an inch at 200mm. This photo was taken at the Riverside Show and Go car show.